2. Academic Validation
  3. Plant essential oil targets TRPV3 for skin renewal and structural mechanism of action

Plant essential oil targets TRPV3 for skin renewal and structural mechanism of action

  • Nat Commun. 2025 Mar 19;16(1):2728. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-58033-9.
Yang Li # 1,  Xuteng Lu # 1,  Xufeng Cheng 1,  Keyu Xia 1,  Junyan Hu 1,  Peiyu Wang 1,  Peiyuan Pang 1,  Bomin Gao 1,  Demeng Sun 2,  Zhuzhen Zhang 1,  Dongdong Li 3,  Zengqin Deng 4,  Changlin Tian 2,  Chang Xie 1,  Jing Yao 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety, TaiKang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
  • 2 Department of Chemistry and the First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, School of Life Sciences, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, Joint Center for Biological Analytical Chemistry, Anhui Engineering Laboratory of Peptide Drug, Anhui Laboratory of Advanced Photonic Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China.
  • 3 Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Inserm, Institut de Biologie Paris Seine (IBPS), Center for Neuroscience at Sorbonne Université (NeuroSU), Paris, France.
  • 4 Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafe, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
  • 5 State Key Laboratory of Virology and Biosafety, TaiKang Center for Life and Medical Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Hubei Key Laboratory of Cell Homeostasis, Frontier Science Center for Immunology and Metabolism, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China. jyao@whu.edu.cn.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 40108208 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58033-9
Abstract

Our skin safeguards the body homeostasis for health and also provides psychological consolation in social life. Natural essential oils are widely used for skin maintenance, while the molecular target and mechanism of action remain largely unknown. Here, we report that citronellal, a plant-derived acyclic monoterpene commonly used for personal care, stimulates skin renewal by promoting keratinocyte proliferation through the activation of TRPV3. We further present cryo-EM structures of human TRPV3 in complex with acyclic monoterpenes, including citronellal, citral, linalool and isodihydrolavandulal, determined at resolutions of 3.1-3.6 Å. Our structural and functional analysis unmasks consistent yet subtly different binding modes within the TRPV3 vanilloid site. Our results elucidate that essential oil ligands activate TRPV3 channels by competitively displacing endogenous lipids from the vanilloid site. Together, these findings identify TRPV3 as the molecular target of natural acyclic monoterpenes for skin renewal, and delineate the structural basis of action, thus being instrumental for moving forward skin healthcare.

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